Cutting apparatus for mowing and reaping machines and grain-harvesters.



H. L. HOPKINS.

CUTTING APPARATUS EoR NowlNS AND REAPTNG MACHINES AND GRAIN HARVESTERS.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC. 18.19l. RENEWED FEB. 18.1915.

Patented Nov. 2

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IIAIWEY I.. HOPKINS, orY cIIIcAeo, rnnINoIsnssIeNon or4 oNE-IIALr ToJoIIN I-IowAitn McnLRoY, or oIIIcAeo, ILLINOIS, AND ONE-HALF To SAIDMGELNOY,

TRUSTEE.

CUTTING APPARATUS FOR IVIOWING AND REAPING MACHINES AND GRAIN-HARVESTERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. L2, I91l5.

Continuation of application Serial No. 587,3617 led ctober 17, 1910.This application led December 18, 1911, Serial N o. 666,499. RenewedFebruary 18, 1915. Serial No. 9,184.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARVEY L. IIorK'INs, a,

citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago, in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cutting Apparatus for Mowing and Reaping Machines andGrain-Harvesters, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

My invention is concerned with cutting apparatus for mowing and reapingmachines and grain harvesters,and is designed to produce a sickleconstruction which in eiiiciencyV shall be very much superior to any nowin use. l

As is well known to those skilled in the art, the grass being cut tendsto get between the knife sections and the ledger plates,l

sections down on the ledger plate and pre-V vent their separation, thusinsuring a shear cut and a clean sickle under all conditions. While theproblem seems simple, yet it is complicated by the fact that the movingparts tend to gum up, owing to the sticky juice or sap of some of thegrasses or weeds cut in using the apparatus, and then, too, dirt andother foreign matters besides the grass assist in the clogging action,and the ap-VV` paratus must be such as to operate in spite of thisgumming or clogging tendency. None of the devices heretofore proposed tocarry out the objects and purposes of my invention are constructed sothat they will operate because `they do not take care of this tendency,and none of them are in use today, despite the crying need therefor. n

By my novel construction I secure the desired pressure of the knifesections on the ledger plates, and the same backward-thrust Y on thecutter bar which I utilize to produce the aforesaid pressure also servesto produce a pressure and scraping action between the bearing surfaceswhich I employ in my invention, whichr scraping action keeps f the4aforesaid bearing surfaces absolutely clean,

which surfaces otherwise would tend to gum up. Y

To illustrate my invention, I annex hereto a sheet of drawings, in whichthe same reference characters are used to designate g identical parts inall the figures, of which,-`

Figur'e l is a top plan view of a portion` of the inner end of thecutting apparatus lof an ordinary mowing Vmachine;`Fig. Zis a section onthe line A-A of Fig. 1; Fig. V3 is a similar section on the line B-B ofthe same ligure; Fig. 4 is a similar section..

on" the line C-C of the same figure; and l In the drawings, c; is thecustomary shoe v having the blind section clip t and the knife heel clipc coperating with the knife head d to guide the inner end of the cutterbar e, and while these elements may be ofthe customary construction, Iprefer to form them in the manner which I will later point out. rlheshoea has secured thereto the customary finger bar f, to the under sideof which the guard fingers g are secured bythe bolts it in the customarymanner. The cutter bar e `has the knife sections or blades j securedthereto by the rivets c, also in the customary manner, and adapted tocooperate with the ledger plates Z secured to the guard fingers g in thecustomary manner.

To hold the knife sections y' down upon the ledger platesZ, and thussecure the desired shearing cut under all conditions, I employ thefollowing novel mechanism: Upon certain of the knife sections, sayone toVevery foot, I secure the clip blocks m, preferably by means of therivets 7c, which are also madel to pass through theV apertures therein,aswell as through the knife sec tions y' and the cutter bar e.' Upon thecentral portion of these clip blocks m I form a lug n, which, as shown,is located well toward the rear of the knife sections and eX- tends fora considerable distancev above the same, and is formed with therearwardly inclined top surface which must be inclined Y atsubstantially the angle shown which may vary a few degrees from 300, andwhich is adaptedto coperate with the correspondingly inclinedundersurfaces of the overhanging'knife'clips o, which are preferably providedwith the slotted portions through whichthe bolts /tpassto adjustablySecure them in place. I may form on the upper surfaces of these knifeclips 0 the lugs p, against whicha tool may be placed in driving themback and forth for the purpose of adiustment.

Thelug n is much shorter than the cooperatingclip 0, and the contactingsurfaceso'frsaid lug and clip bear such relationshipV to each otherandto the lengthof the feo reciprocation ofthe cutter` bar and 'itsattached :knife sections that every portion of the "contacting surfaceof the clip o 'is exposed at 'some timeA duringV the reciproca# tion,and is scraped clean by one or the otheriof the squareends (best seen inFig. 5) ofthe lug a, the backward thrust on the knifefsections land theVinclination of the engaging surfaces servingjto force the lattertogether and insuring that the-engaging surface ofyth'e clip shallVbe'scraped absolutely clean at'each reeipro-cation, thus preventing anypossibility whatever of any clogging resulting vfrom the addition of mynovel v construction to thel ordinary cutting apparatus. `At the same4time,'the same backward thruston the `knife sections, due to theresistance of theV grass and the cooperation of theQinclined contactingsurfacesk of 'the lug n and the clip .0, will 'force' the 'knife 'sectimasdownward uponthe'ledger plates Z, Vand the greater 'the'rearwardV thrust the harderfthey vwill be pressed down, so that theVvmorediflicult'the cutting Vthe more certain the vractionof the desiredshear'cut.

ldherethe Aedges'of'the ends `of vthe contacting surfacev of the lug aare square, as

in the exemplification of my invention illus-y trated,'tlie edges of theends of the 'opposed contacting surfaceV of the clip Voshould -bebeveled orrounded, as shown at t in Fig.' 5,'

to permit of the ready drawal ofthe cutter bar.

By extended experiments with the abovedescribed mechanism, I havefound'that if for any reason there is any lateral play or improperalinement of the knife-head, it

insertion or withvcauses a'greater wear on the first of the lugs n andthe cooperating clip o than theothers, and `this is very objectionablaasthe slight wearon allthese lugs and clips should be uniform. To obviatethis-possible objection Y and also toaidrthe inainclips in securing a'shear vcut, I ,preferablyv employ the method above described of securingthe shearcut to prevent any possible lateral play of the knife-head CZ,4andto this end Iform on the knife head Zthe lugs r and e9,'wl1ich havetheir top surfaces inclined Vforwardly and rearwardly, respectively, andcooperating with the correspondingly inclined under surfaces of theblind section clip Z) and the knife heel clip c. As these clips and care both adjustable, the position of the cutter bar and the knife headcan be regulated to a niCety, and any wear readily taken up.

To permit short grass, dirt, etc., to work .out from between the clips oand the finger bar, l preferably form the clips with the recess u in theback thereof, and the inclinatio-n of the upper portion of the clipleaves passages between the clips and the finger bar, as seen at e inFig. 4:, through which the aforesaid short grass, dirt, etc., canescape.

My present application is a substitute for my application `#5580261,filed October 17, 1910, intended to cover the same identical inventionbut abandoned because the disclosure was defective, and could not, underthe examiners ruling, be properly amended without involving new matter.

While I have shown and described my invention as embodied-in the formwhich I at present consider best adapted to carry out its purposes, itwill be understood that it isV capable of some modifications, and thataccordingly I do not desire to 'be limited in the interpretation of thefollowing claims except as may be necessitated by the state of the priorart.

VJ hat I claim as new, and desire rto secure Vby Letters Patent of theUnited States, is:

1. In a device of the class described, .the combination with a fingerbar and guard fingers carried thereby,of a cutter bar and knife sectionssecured thereto adapted to reciprocate on the finger bar, a plurality oflugs havingv bearing surfaces inclined relatively to the plane of "the'knife sections at substantially the angle shown, 30", on the cutter barand located toward the rear portions of some of the knife sections, andretaining clips carried by the finger bar and having correspondinglyinclined bearing surfaces cooperating with the first mentioned bearingsurfaces, the end edges of one of each of said pairs of'bearing surfacesbeing sharp, so Vthat the backward thrust of the knife sections forcesthiem down on the guard-finger ledger-plates and also causes saidsharpedges to scrape the opposed bearing surface as the cutter bar isreciprocated.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination with a finger barand guard `fingerscarried thereby, ofa cutter bar and and havingcorrespondingly inclined under surfaces on the overlying portioncoperating with the top surfaces of the lugs, the end edges of one ofsaid pairs of bearing surfaces being sharp, so that the backward thrustof the knife sections forces them down on the guard-finger ledger-platesand also causes said sha-rp edges to scrape the opposed bearing surfaceas the cutter bar is recipro-cated.

3. ln a device of the class described, thev combination with a fingerbar and guard fingers carried thereby, of a cutter bar and knifesections secured theretol adapted to reciprocate on the finger'bar, aplurality of lugs having bearing surfaces inclined relatively to theplane of the knife sections at substantially the angle shown, 300, onthe cutter bar and located toward the rear portions of some of the knifesections, and retaining clips carried by the finger bar and havingcorrespondingly inclined bearing surfaces cooperating with Vthe firstmentioned bearing surfaces, the end edges of one of each of said pairsof bearing surfaces being sharp, so that the backward thrust of theknife sections forces them down on the guard-finger ledger-plates andalso causes said sharp edges to scrape the opposed bearing surface asthe cutter bar is reciprocated, and the end edges of the other of saidbear# ing surfaces being beveled to permit the ready insertion orwithdrawal of the cutter bar.

4t. ln a device of the class described, the combination with a shoe, anger bar secured thereto, and guard fingers carried by the bar, of aknife-head adapted to reciprocate on the shoe, a cutter-bar secured tothe knife-head, knife sections secured to the cutter bar, blind-sectionand knife-heel clips secured upon the shoe, the blind-section clip beingadjustable so that it can be adjusted to coperate with the knife-head toprevent lateral play, a plurality of lugs having bearing surfacesinclined relatively to the plane of the knife sections at substantiallythe angle shown, 30, on the cutter bar and located toward the rearportions of some of the knife sections, and retaining clips carried bythe finger bar and having correspondingly inclined bearing surfacescooperating with the first-mentioned bearing surfaces, the end edges ofone of each pair of bearing surfaces being sharp, so that the backwardthrust of the knife sections forces them down on the guard-fingerledger-plates and also causes said sharp edges to scrape the oppositebearing surface as the cutter bar is reciprocated.

5. In adevice of the class described, thc combination with a shoe, afinger bar secured thereto, and guard fingers carried by the bar, of aknife head adapted to reciprocate on the shoe, a cutter bar secured tothe knife head, knife sections secured to the cutter bar, said knifehead having two lugs thereon with their top surfaces oppositelyinclined, blind-section and knife-heel clips secured upon the shoe andhaving overhanglng portions with correspondingly inclined under surfacescoperating with the tops of said lugs, the blind-section clip beingadjustable to and from its cooperating lug, a. plurality of lugs havingbearing surfaces inclined relatively to the plane of the knife sectionsat substantially the angle shown, 30o, on the cutter bar and locatedtoward the rear portions of some of the knife sections, and retainingclips carried by the finger bar and having correspondinglyinclinedbearing surfaces cooperating with the first-mentioned bearingsurfaces, the end edges of one of each pair of bearing surfaces beingsharp, so that the backward thrust of the knife sections forces themdown on the guard-finger ledger-plates and also causes said sharp edgesto scrape the opposite bearing surface as the cutter bar isreciprocat-ed.

6. ln a device of the class described, the combination with a finger bar.and guard fingers carried thereby, of a cutter bar and knife sectionssecured thereto adapted to reciprocate on the finger bar, a plurality oflugs having their top surfaces inclined rearwardly and downwardly atsubstantially the angle shown, 30, extending above the rear portions ofsome of the knife sections, and a corresponding plurality of overhangingretaining clips carried by the finger bar and having correspondinglyinclined under surfaces on the overlying portion coperating with the topsurfaces of the lugs, the endedges of one of said pairs of bearingsurfaces being sharp, so that the backward thrust of the knife sectionsforces them down on the guard-iinger ledger-plates and also causes saidsharp edges to scrape the opposed bearing surface as the cutter bar isreciprocated, said retaining clips having the recesses u in the backthereof for the purpose described;

l In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal,this 16th day of December A. D. 1911.

HARVEY L. HOPKINS. [Ls] Witnesses:

.loi-1N HOWARD McELRoY, y MILDRED ELSNER.V

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

